Interpretation of the Detection of Antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona in the serum and CSF of young horses

dc.contributor.authorCook, Anne Grimsleyen
dc.contributor.committeechairBuechner-Maxwell, Virginia A.en
dc.contributor.committeememberLindsay, David S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberSchurig, Gerhardt G.en
dc.contributor.committeememberParker, Nikola A.en
dc.contributor.committeememberDascanio, John J.en
dc.contributor.departmentVeterinary Medical Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:34:58Zen
dc.date.adate2001-07-02en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:34:58Zen
dc.date.issued2001-04-19en
dc.date.rdate2002-07-02en
dc.date.sdate2001-05-04en
dc.description.abstractHorses that are exposed to Sarcocystis neurona, a causative agent of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, produce antibodies that are detectable in serum by western blot (WB). A positive test is indicative of exposure to the organism. Positive tests in young horses can be complicated by the presence of maternal antibodies. Passive transfer of maternal antibodies to S. neurona from seropositive mares to their foals was evaluated. Foals were sampled at birth (presuckle), at 24 hours of age (postsuckle), and at monthly intervals. All foals sampled before suckling were seronegative. Thirty-three foals from 33 seropositive mares became seropositive with colostrum ingestion at 24 hours of age, confirming that passive transfer of S. neurona maternal antibodies occurs. Thirty-one of the 33 foals became seronegative by 9 months of age, with a mean seronegative conversion time of 4.2 months. These results indicate that evaluation of exposure to S. neurona by WB analysis of serum may be misleading in young horses. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 15 neonatal (2-8 day) foals were examined for the presence of antibodies to S. neurona by WB analysis. Twelve of 13 foals that were seropositive were also CSF positive, suggesting that maternal antibodies to S. neurona cross the blood-CSF barrier in neonatal foals resulting in a positive CSF WB. Repeat taps were performed on 5 of the foals which showed that the immunoreactivity of the western blot decreases over time. Two of the 5 foals were CSF negative at 83 and 84 days of age, with 1 foal still positive at 90 days, and 2 foals positive at 62 days. These results indicate that maternal antibodies to S. neurona in the CSF can confound WB results in neonatal foals up to several months of age.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-05042001-080834en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05042001-080834/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/32173en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartThesisAnneCook.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectwestern bloten
dc.subjectimmunoglobulinsen
dc.subjectneonateen
dc.subjectequine protozoal myeloencephalitsen
dc.subjectcerebrospinal fluiden
dc.subjectSarcocystis neuronaen
dc.subjectHorsesen
dc.subjectpassive transferen
dc.titleInterpretation of the Detection of Antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona in the serum and CSF of young horsesen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineVeterinary Medical Sciencesen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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